The capacity and speed of communications systems may be increased by transmitting information in optical form over networks composed of optically transmissive nodes, fibers, waveguides, and the like. High capacity optical communications systems require that many optical signals be frequency division multiplexed in the components of an optical network. Receivers must be configured such that a desired optical frequency may be retrieved from a group of many multiplexed optical frequencies. This necessitates the provision of suitable optical filters which separate desired optical frequencies from a frequency division multiplexed plurality of optical frequencies. Until now, there has been no convenient approach to filtering unwanted optical frequencies from desired optical frequencies. The performance of prior tunable optical filters, based on electro-michanical, electro-optic, acousto-optic, and magneto-optic effects, have been limited in terms of tuning speed, frequency selectivity, or tuning range. All of these prior devices also have been expensive to implement.